The present invention relates to production of hardware components, in particular of printed circuit boards supports.
As it is known, additional boards of various types (e.g. audio, video, etc.) are usually connected to the mother board of a personal computer in order to add devices or to implement them.
The mother board is connected to each additional board by suitably prepared connectors, e.g. a socket connector, and the additional boards are held in place by properly shaped support devices.
As seen from FIGS. from 1 to 3, the support devices usually include a carrier oblong structure 90, generally made of plastic material, featuring a base 91, that can be removably fastened to the frame structure.
Two longitudinal grooves 92a, 92b, facing opposite directions, are made along the carrier structure 90 for guiding additional boards.
The top 94 of the carrier structure 90 is provided with a locking group 95, which removably locks the boards after they have been inserted in the groove.
The board locking group 95 slides perpendicularly with respect to the carrier structure 90 between a locking position A and release position B.
The board locking group 95 usually includes a control push button 96 integral with a bar 97 which passes through a crosswise hole 97a made in the carrier structure 90 and passing between the grooves 92.
The end of the bar 97 opposite to the control push button 96 is fastened to a stop plate 98, concentric therewith, whose sides are provided with two pins 99a, 99b, coplanar and parallel to the bar 97.
Each pin 99a, 99b slides in a corresponding transversal seat 80a, 80b which passes across a relative groove 92a, 92b and whose length covers the whole groove, when the slide 95 is in the locking position A.
Likewise, when the slide 95 is in the release position B, the length of the bar 97 must be enough to guarantee that the pins 99a, 99b are totally clear of the grooves 92a, 92b. 
Generally, the grooves 92 co-operate with pairs of wings 71, which are arranged side by side and whose task is to improve and stabilise the boards locking when the slide 95 is in the locking position.
This is necessary, since the standard thickness of the boards, according to the norms, is 1.6 mm, with a margin of +10%.
Longitudinal shifting of the board inside the grooves 92 is prevented by introduction of the pins 99a, 99b of the slide 95 (in the locking position A) into a related holes made in the board lateral edge.
Each pin 99, co-operating with a similar fastening device, stabilises and locks one board, sliding in the corresponding groove 92.
The carrier structure 90 is usually fastened to a frame by threaded bushings made in the base 91 of the carrier structure 90 and set dipped therein.
Sometimes the fastening is realised by simple through holes made in the base.
The most important disadvantage of the described support devices derives from their extreme fragility in the area of the support structure interacting with the locking group.
In fact, in this area, the support structure has small section, features the seat, in which the bar slides, and is further weakened by the coplanar seats, in which the pins slide.
Frequent movements of the locking group can cause a crack in the support structure near the critic area and substitution of the whole support may be necessary.
This leads to a considerable increase of costs due to a specialised intervention and its duration.
Moreover, the production of the traditional device is very expensive, as it requires elaborate expensive moulds and particularly delicate processing steps, mainly because of the metallic inserts used in a structure made predominantly of plastic material.
Also important is the consideration of undesired oscillations of the slide with respect to the central bar, when the slide takes both the locking and in the release positions.
These oscillations increase the probability of the device cracking in the area of the board fastening hole, which leads to the board being non longer firm with respect to the mother board and cause the danger of disconnection therebetween.
The proposed support device for printed circuit boards has been evolved with the object to avoid the above mentioned drawbacks by manufacturing a particularly strong and reliable structure, which can prevent occurring of crack.
Another object of the present invention is to propose a device which optimises the connection with the boards guaranteeing that the boards are locked at the best and firm, thus avoiding disconnection from the mother board.
A further object of the present invention is to propose a support device obtained by a simple technical solution, which drastically reduces the production costs, maintaining the device functionality and reliability.
The above mentioned objects are obtained, in accordance with the claims, by means of a support device for boards, in particular for printed circuits, including:
a support structure longitudinally equipped with at least one board guiding groove and with a base area detachably fastened to a suitable carrier;
at least one transversal cutting made across said groove;
a locking group associated to said support structure and taking two positions, namely a locking position, to detachably lock the boards, and a release position, to free the boards;
a guiding element for connecting said locking group to said support structure, said guiding element moving inside a relative guiding seat and having an axis transversal with respect to said guiding groove;
a plate associated to said locking group and provided with at least one locking element set in engagement with said transversal cutting when said locking group is in said locking position, for locking a board inserted into said grooves, and released from said transversal cutting to let said board free when said locking group is in said release position;
with the locking element positioned at a different level than the guiding element.